Trouble follows you around
by vahanian
Summary: This is a story about five times that Callen got into trouble.
1. Poison

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. I am making no money off this.

G Callen knew he was dying. As he lay on the floor of an abandoned warehouse, curled up into the foetal position, his body shook from the poison coursing through his veins. He'd had to go into this mission alone whilst Sam and everyone had tracked him from a distance. The last thing that he had remembered was arranging to meet his contact, Fred Watkins.

Two hours earlier.

Callen stood silently, observing all the people in Bosford national park. He was unsure who he was meeting, so he kept a well trained eye on all the people.

"G, someone coming up on your six." said Sam's voice through his ear mike.

Callen turned around and tried to look annoyed at having been kept waiting.

"I have been waiting for half an hour." he said angrily tapping his watch.

"I am sorry for the inconvenience Mr Hart, but it was a necessary precaution, we had to make sure you weren't followed." Said Fred.

"Followed by who?" asked Callen.

"Anyone who wants to stop our little deal." said Fred grinning madly. He stepped up towards him and held out his hand, as if to shake it. Callen reached forward and clasped his hand firmly around Fred's. Fred squeezed tightly, and being of bigger build than Callen, pulled him forward.

"Can't be too careful now, can we Mr Callen." said Fred angrily his eyes flashing dangerously.

Callen's eyes widen in surprise as he felt a needle jab into his neck.

"Two hours left to live." said Fred's voice before he fell into unconsciousness.

Callen glanced at his watch as he lay on the floor. Only fifty-nine minutes left. He closed his eyes and fell into nothingness. 

Sam paced around the bullpen furiously. It had been an hour and fifteen minutes since he had lost Callen, and the way he was feeling he felt that he needed to punch something. The scene played out in his mind. He could only watch in dismay as Callen's contact reached out to shake his hand, pulling him close. He heard him call Callen by name, and jab something into his neck. As he and Kensi began racing towards him, he saw Callen drop to the floor. The guy bent down and picked him up, placing him into a waiting van, and by the time they had gotten there, all the found was a empty syringe and Callen's ear piece.

"Eric, anything yet?" shouted Sam

"No nothing." replied Eric's voice from the control room. " Wait a minute, yes. I've found them." he said excitedly.

Sam raced up the stairs closely followed by Kensi and Nate.

"This was picked up by a traffic cam about eighty minutes ago." said Eric as they entered the room. They all watched as the unmarked white van pulled out of traffic and into an industrial estate. They saw the van stop and two men get out. They walked to the back and opened the doors. The bigger of the two guys, pulled something out and slung it over his shoulder. With an angry scowl, Sam saw that it was Callen. The two guys and his friend moved out of the shot.

"Eric, can you follow them.?" asked Sam.

"No the traffic cam is static. I can't move it." said Eric.

"Alright do anything you can to try and locate him." said Sam. "Kensi let's go."

"Mr Hanna." said an authoritative voice behind him. He turned to see Hetty coming towards them with something in her hand. "The antidote for the poison that was in the syringe. But you have to hurry, you only have forty minutes left to give it to him." said Hetty as she passed him the phial. "Good luck."

"Thanks Hetty." said Sam pocketing the antidote as he raced to the door.

"Eric, we need a location now." said Sam frantically.

"I'm sorry, there's too many containers. I can't get a read." said Eric anxiously.

Sam couldn't believe it. They had come all this way, just to be stopped at the last hurdle. They were running out of time.

"Time." muttered Sam to himself, as he looked at his watch. "Kensi was G wearing a watch?" asked Sam hurriedly.

"What?" said Kensi in confusion.

"At the meeting, was G wearing a watch." repeated Sam.

"Yes. What's that got to do with anything?" Kensi replied.

"Eric, there's a GPS tracking device in G's watch. Turn it on." said Sam into his phone. "I got it him for Christmas one year." said Sam when he saw Kensi's raised eyebrow. " And I might have added a GPS tracker without him knowing. But you have to admit, trouble follows him around like he's a magnet. At least this way we know where he is." finished Sam.

Kensi was just going to agree with Sam, when Eric's voice came over the speaker.

"Sam he's in a container fourth row back, second from the right. It should be a red one." said Eric quickly.

"Thanks Eric." said Sam snapping his phone shut. He and Kensi raced forward, knowing that time was of the essence.

When they got to the container, Sam sighed in relief, the door only had two deadbolts but no locks. Obviously they weren't worried about anyone finding him in a yard full of containers, or him getting out. The bolts slid back with a clang and, motioning for Kensi to stand guard outside, Sam walked cautiously in. He saw a shape huddled at the back of the container. He approached wearily just in case.

"G! G, can you hear me?" asked Sam loudly. He bent down by the side of him and placed his fingers on his neck. He was startled to find no pulse.

"Kensi call 911." shouted Sam as he frantically reached for the antidote. He jabbed the needle into his neck. Tossing aside the now empty syringe, he began CPR.

Refusing to give up, even after five minutes, Sam resumed the procedure. A violent coughing had Sam giving a startled yelp and falling backwards onto his butt.

"Some Navy SEAL you are." said G hoarsely. " I scared you just by coughing." he gave a weak laugh.

"Oh man, it is good to hear your voice, even if it is making fun of me." said Sam happily.

"What happened?" asked Callen motioning to Sam to help him sit up against the container wall.

"Your contact knew who you were." said Sam as he pulled Callen up against the wall. "He injected you with poison and kidnapped you. He was going to leave you to die in this container, and believe me, there are so many containers, I didn't think that even we would find you." said Sam sitting down next to him.

"So how did you find me?" asked Callen in confusion.

"GPS tracking device in your watch." said Sam without missing a beat.

Callen opened his mouth angrily to speak, when Sam cut across him.

"G, come on man. Trouble follows you around where ever you go. it's a good job I did or you'd be dead right now." pleaded Sam.

Realising that Sam was right, he gave a slight nod and rested his head against the container wall. Trouble really did seem to follow him around.

A.N. Let me know what you think. Reviews are always welcome.

The next chapter will involve a gun situation.


	2. Gun

Sorry it has been so long since I updated. I put it down to severe writer's block and sheer laziness. As always none of the characters belong to me, I'm just borrowing them.

"So if you think about it, in a fair fight Superman would win against Batman." said Callen waving his hand around, whilst holding a lollipop.

"No way, dude. Batman totally has the Bat mobile." said Sam.

"Yeah but Superman can fly, and he has laser vision, not to mention super strength." said Callen with a grin, knowing that he was going to win this argument.

The debate was cut short by the soft sounds of someone walking towards them.

"I'm afraid gentlemen, that you are both incorrect," said the authoritative voice of their operations manager, Hetty. " As I told Stan Lee when he was creating Spiderman, who could beat a super hero who could cling to a building like a spider." she thought for a moment before adding thoughtfully, "or was it Mike Mignola?"

Any reply that the two men were about to give were cut short by a sharp whistle from up above.

"Saved by the whistle." said Hetty as Sam and Callen jumped up from their table.

"Did you hear that, Hetty and Stan." said Sam in a disbelieving voice.

" Don't go there Sam." said Callen with a determined look on his face.

"Wonder what other things she taught him." said Sam sniggering.

"I can't believe you went there." said Callen turning a shade whiter.

They entered the OPS room and saw everyone already there.

"What ya got Eric?" asked Callen as he positioned himself against the wall.

"Well you know how we were waiting for a hit on Steven O'Reilly?"

Callen remembered all to well the first time he met O'Reilly. He was attempting to smuggle two teenage girls out of the country, in two suitcases. When he was cornered he shot dead a police officer and injured a passer by. He had escaped, and the girls had escaped unharmed.

"Well he just surfaced downtown. Local ATM machine caught his picture." said Eric bringing up the picture and interrupting Callen's thoughts. It showed a man of slim build, jet black hair and deep blue eyes. Callen supposed he could have been classed as handsome, if it wasn't for a scar that ran down the length of his cheek.

"Remind me again. Why are we interested in him?" asked Dom.

" Well, he's into drug smuggling, illegal gambling, dealing weapons and human trafficking, to name a few." said Sam before Callen could answer.

"Eyewitness said O'Reilly went into the Peking Duck about ten minutes ago. It's a restaurant on the water front. Sounds like he is waiting to meet someone." said Eric.

"Good job Eric, send the co-ordinates to my GPS. Sam, Kensi lets go." said Callen.

They jumped into Sam's black Dodge. "O.K, when we get there, try not to draw attention to yourself, we are not after who he's selling to, just O'Reilly himself." said Callen.

"Relax G, we know." said Sam calmly as they pulled up outside the restaurant.

They got out of the car slowly, Callen signalling to Sam and Kensi to go around the back. He watched as they gave him small nods and went to cover the back, just in case.

Callen cautiously opened the door. He stepped inside and glanced around. O'Reilly was sitting with his back to the entrance, so he hadn't seen Callen enter.

"Steven O'Reilly, put your hands on your head and slowly turn around." said Callen raising his gun.

"Mr Grey, how nice to see you again." said O'Reilly using Callen's alias name. He still didn't turn around.

"Steven put your hands on your head and turn around." Callen repeated.

Without warning O'Reilly spun around quickly and fired two shots. Because he had his back towards the door, he hadn't been able to locate Callen's whereabouts, and his shots went wide. Callen ducked for cover. He felt someone push past him, and he glanced up to see O'Reilly running past him out of the door. Not seeing Sam and Kensi, Callen gave chase.

Sam glanced around the mess that, until recently, had been the Peking Duck restaurant. Even though only two shots had been fired, the customers had panicked, and in their haste to get away, had caused a bit of a mess. He walked over to the wall where two bullets had lodged themselves into the wall. Looking down at the floor he stooped down and picked something up. It was Callen's phone. He stood up as Kensi came over to him.

" Looks like O'Reilly tried to shoot his way out, and judging from the position of these bullets, he was willing to shoot G to do it." said Sam angrily.

"The restaurant owner says that O'Reilly took off through the front door, and headed towards the water front." said Kensi.

"Yeah not before he tried to shoot G in the head." said Sam.

"He said Callen took off after him." finished Kensi.

" Let's go after him then." said Sam as he pocketed Callen's phone.

Callen ran quickly after O'Reilly who, thankfully, had decided not to use his gun in public. He sped up as O'Reilly turned a corner onto the dock of the water front. He stopped and peered around the wall, there was no sign of

O'Reilly. He crept around the corner with his gun outstretched. Someone, probably a fisherman, had left his crates behind, which were just big enough for a person to hide behind. A splash had him moving cautiously towards the end of the pier. He peered into the water to see it rippling. Hearing a noise behind him he spun around.

"Goodbye Mr Grey." said O'Reilly as he raised his gun and fired. The force of the bullet spun him around, and loosing his footing, he fell into the water below.

Sam arrived just as he heard O'Reilly say, "Goodbye Mr Grey." and a shot fire out. He watched in horror as the bullet caught Callen in the right side of his chest, spinning him around. With a surprised look on his face, he saw Callen topple into the water.

"Get down on the ground." shouted Sam furiously, pointing his gun at O'Reilly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kensi doing the same, as she advanced slowly towards him. She roughly kicked him to the ground, and tossed his gun into the water. Seeing that Kensi had O'Reilly under control, he ran to the edge of the pier, and without thinking he jumped into the water. The first thing he noticed as he hit the water was that there seemed to be a lot of blood. Looking wildly around he spotted G just a little way below him. His eyes were closed and he was sinking. Through the clear water Sam could see the gash on G's head.

"He must have hit it as he fell." thought Sam as he swam down. Sam's fingers grabbed a handful of G's shirt and pulled him up. Sam grimaced at how light he was. "When was the last time he had a decent meal?" thought Sam as he swam to the surface.

When his head had cleared the water, he put G on his back and swam to the edge. Placing G on the floor, he put his ear to his chest. He realised with a start that he wasn't breathing.

"Kensi." shouted Sam.

"Already called them, and backup is on the way." Kensi shouted back from above him on the dock.

Sam worked frantically as he tried to get G breathing again. He ripped G's shirt and let out a breath when he saw that O'Reilly had missed his heart, and hit him in the shoulder instead. Rolling up his shirt he tied it around the wound.

"Come on G, don't do this to me again. Just hold on G, hold on." Sam continuing speaking soothingly as he worked.

He sighed in relief as Callen turned on his side and coughed up the water he had swallowed.

"G are you alright?" asked Sam intently as he stared into G's eyes.

G looked up at Sam and blinked owlishly, his expression turning to confusion.

Remembering that he had hit his head and might have a concussion, Sam asked him, "Do you know where you are?"

"Why are there two of you?" asked Callen in confused bewilderment, " and where's that ringing coming from?"

Sam chuckled softly, " You hit your head when you went over the side."

" Aw man, I got shot again didn't I?" said Callen in disbelief.

" Yep. At least it was only one this time." said Sam dryly. " Luckily he only managed to get you in the shoulder. From my angle he looked like he shot you in the chest." continued Sam.

"Oh that's why I'm sat here without a shirt." said Callen.

"No, we're shooting a hunks calendar, and your in it." said Sam with a rolling his eyes.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, when Callen started to laugh.

"What?" asked Sam raising his eyebrow.

Looking at Sam with a straight face, Callen said, " Trouble really does seem to follow me around."

A.N 1.- The first part was based on a debate me and my sister had about who would win in a fair fight. I said Superman, she said Batman. Let me know what you think.

A.N2- Also for those who don't know Mike Mignola helped create Batman.

A.N3- The next chapter will be a hostage situation in his flat. Please leave any comments you wish to leave. Thanks for reading.


	3. Hostage

Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me.

G Callen always hated this time of year. It was only Christmas eve and he already wanted it to be over. He glanced around the bullpen as his friends talked in loud excited voices about what they were going to be doing come Christmas day.

"I have to go and see my family." Sam was saying, in a long suffering voice.

Callen knew however, that despite his grumbling, Sam was excited to be going home, as for the past month he was telling anybody who would listen that it would be nice to have some home cooking. Callen turned his attention back to the files in front of him. He frowned a little at the thought that he didn't have anywhere to go this Christmas. As if sensing his mood, Sam turned towards him and started to walk over.

"You know you can come with me, to my house." Sam said in a whisper so that only Callen could hear.

"Thanks Sam, but I see enough of you here. I don't think I could manage four continuous days of you." Callen joked lightly.

The truth was that he really did want someone to spend the Christmas holidays with, but he didn't want Sam to think he was needy.

He watched as his team gathered up their things from their desks, and their coats.

"See you later Callen." said Kensi as she walked to the door, linking arms with Dom, who gave a casual wave.

"Have a nice Christmas, Callen." said Nate with a smile as he pulled on his coat.

"Have a good one dude." shouted Eric as he all but ran out of the door.

"Still time to change your mind." said Sam seriously.

" Nah, I'm good. You go and have some of that home cooking, you've been on about for so long." said Callen with a smile.

Callen kept the smile on his face until Sam had shut the door behind him. He jumped when he heard a voice behind him.

"You know Mr Callen, I have an extra seat at my table if you wish to make use of it?" said Hetty.

"Thanks Hetty, but I'm alright." said Callen.

Hetty stared at him for a moment, as if she was judging whether he was telling the truth or not.

"Last one turns out the lights." she said as she walked away. " Oh and Mr Callen?" she called over her shoulder.

"Yes Hetty." Callen answered.

"Merry Christmas."

"You too, Hetty, you too." Said Callen quietly.

He looked around the now empty room. It was going to be a long four days.

Pulling on his coat he walked towards the door, and glancing around at the empty office he silently turned off the lights.

It was a pleasant walk home. The streets were quiet, people eager to get home for Christmas eve, and the few people that were out, kept their heads down as they rushed to finish their last minute shopping. His new apartment wasn't very big. It had only five tenants, including Callen, and a basement were they kept the washer/dryer. All the windows in his apartment block were dark, as everyone had gone home for Christmas. Callen put his key into the lock and pushed the door open. He stepped inside and shut the door, just as he went to turn the light on he felt movement by the side of him and something heavy hit him over the head.

"I should have gone with Sam." thought Callen as he fell to the floor, and the darkness rose up to claim him.

Awareness came to Callen slowly. His head was pounding in time to the beating of his heart. He opened his eyes only to realise that the room was pitch black. Shaking his head slightly he felt the rough fabric of a hood rubbing against his face. He tried to reach up and pull it off, but he found that his arms and legs were tied to a chair. He sighed quietly to himself.

"Ah, you are awake. That's good, I was starting to get bored with you." said a voice to Callen's side.

Callen jumped violently as he realised that the guy must have been sat there watching, as he tried to get himself free.

"Now then, lets get rid of this hood. I find its much nicer if we see each other, don't you?" asked the man, and before Callen could respond the hood was pulled ruthlessly off. The harsh glare of the light had Callen squinting. Callen glanced around him and saw a washing machine and dryers. He realised that he was in the basement of his apartment block.

"There much better. You may call me John." said John as he smiled at Callen, as though he had just given him a treat. " You probably don't remember me?" asked John.

Callen stayed silent, wondering were this was going.

"Answer me when I'm talking to you." roared John as he punched Callen across the face.

Callen's vision turned dark as his head snapped to the side. He could feel the blood dripping from his mouth, down his chin.

"No I don't remember you." said Callen as he spat a tooth on the floor.

"Thanks to you and your partner, I was sent to prison three years ago for life. I have since managed to secure my own release." said John with a slight smile.

"You escaped." said Callen looking up at him."Yes and it wasn't easy to find you. Your like a ghost. I have been watching you, but your hard to predict, you never stay in one place more than a few days. I couldn't believe my luck when you walked in here alone, without your partner. I felt for sure that you would go with him." said John with a curious look on his face. " Never mind, we are going to have some fun for the next four days." he said with an evil look on his face.

Callen watched as John turned around and walked out the door. Try as he might, he just couldn't place the man. He and Sam had busted so many bad guys in their three years together. Callen's thoughts were cut short when a loud ringing noise started to fill the room. It was high pitched and it sounded like the white noise treatment that they used against POWs, to get them to break. Callen sighed as he realised the torture had began.

Callen woke with a start when a bucket of icy cold water went over him. It had been the same every time he had fallen asleep. John would come in and throw water on him to wake him up, then he would leave him shivering in the cold basement. This time was different, John stayed and watched silently as Callen tried to remove the water from his eyes.

"Shall we have some fun?" Asked John holding up a carving knife.

Callen grunted with pain as the knife sliced across his leg. It wasn't a deep cut, but it was enough to draw blood. John laughed at his discomfort.

"They aren't coming for you." he said callously. "They are going to be happy that you are out of the way, poor little orphan boy that nobody wanted."

Callen refused to cry out when the knife sliced across his chest.

"You've been here for two days and no one is coming. They don't care." he shouted as he rammed the knife into his leg.

Callen cried out as the knife enter his skin. John smiled to himself, as if this was the reaction he had been waiting for. Pulling the knife out, John turned on his heel and left.

Callen watched miserably as John left the room. He couldn't help but think that maybe John was right. His team didn't really care about him, that they only put up with him because they felt sorry for him and didn't want to kick him while he was down by firing him.

"Sam where are you?" said Callen quietly as John entered with a battery and jumper cables.

Callen led on the floor some time later, his body still twitching from the battery that John had hooked him up to. Callen recalled that every time he had scream, it had only made John pushed the button harder until finally he had lost consciousness. Callen sighed sadly . He knew his team weren't coming for him. John had told him so. Every time he had argued, John had hit him or punched him or used his knife. He told him over and over again that his team were better off with out him. Callen glanced towards the door, not looking for a rescue, but hoping that when John came back that this time the torture might send him into a permanent state of unconsciousness.

Sam looked around the room and then glanced at his watch. Usually G was the first one in the office, sat at his desk drinking coffee and reading the funnies from the paper.

"Has anyone seen G?" asked Sam loudly.

Everyone went silent as they looked around the bullpen, as if they expected Callen to jump out from behind a desk shouting, 'boo'.

"No I haven't seen him since Christmas eve." said Kensi.

"I'm sure he's just late." said Dom.

"G is never late. His bedroll and bag aren't here either. Which means he hasn't been back for four days." said Sam slightly worried.

"Kensi, lets go to his apartment. Hopefully he just slept late. Dom fill Hetty in." called Sam over his shoulder as he and Kensi left.

On the way to G's apartment, Sam couldn't help but think of all the things that might have kept his best friend and partner away from work. With a worried frown, Sam sped up.

When he pulled up outside the apartment, Sam switched off the ignition and got out of the car. He walked up the steps and knocked on the door.

"Can I help you?" said a voice behind him.

Sam turned around and saw a little old lady behind him. " Yes I'm looking for my friend. He's a young man in his thirties, brown hair, short."

"Ah yes, he's not here." said the woman with a smile. " I got home yesterday and found a note in my apartment saying he'd gone to stayed with friends for Christmas. He usually helps me you see." the woman chatted away, as if finally glad that she had got someone to talk too.

"Can you let us in?" asked Sam politely.

"Sure." said the woman as she put her key in the lock, and pushed open the door. Sam walked up to room twelve closely followed by Kensi. He gently pushed the door and to his surprise it opened. Sharing an uneasy glance with Kensi, they got their guns out. They went slowly into the rooms, searching each one.

"Sam, I think you need to see this!" said Kensi from the door.

Sam walked back to were she was and looked where she was pointing. On the carpet near the door, was a big pool of dried in blood. Someone had tried to clean it up in an effort to hide it, they have even pulled a table over it to cover it up.

"There's more drops out here." said Kensi from the hallway. "They go towards the basement." she said coming back into the room.

"Let's follow it then." said Sam in a tight voice.

Callen stared up numbly as John pointed a gun at his face.

"Well its been real fun torturing you and all, but the neighbours are back and they would most likely hear the screams. And I can't afford to go back to prison." said John waving the gun around. Callen closed his eyes as he levelled the gun towards him.

"Drop the gun and put your hands on your head." said an enraged voice somewhere near the door, that sounded like Sam.

Callen didn't bother opening his eyes. This wouldn't have been the first time that his mind had played tricks on him. And if he was going to die, he felt some comfort in the fact that Sam was here to keep him company, even if it was in his mind.

"Why he's already dead." said the gleeful voice of John.

"Then why are you pointing a gun at him if he's dead?" said Sam.

"Ha, good old Sam." thought Callen. "He really knows how to annoy the bad guys."

"Move. Away. Now." said Sam's voice.

"Don't do it." shouted someone that sounded like Kensi.

Callen flinched as two shots rang out in the tiny room.

"Wow, my imagination is good." thought Callen, "but why is John taking so long to kill me?"

He felt two hands roughly grab him and check for a pulse. He heard someone breathe a sigh of relief.

"G. Can you hear me?" said Sam's voice. "Open your eyes." he pleaded.

Callen slowly opened his eyes, and to his astonishment he saw Sam looking back at him.

"Your alright now, he's dead." said Sam indicating his head behind him.

Callen turned and saw John lying lifeless on the floor.

"He said you wouldn't come for me." said Callen as he passed out.

Sam looked down at Callen as he passed out, his last words playing over in his mind. " He said you wouldn't come for me." Sam looked down at his best friend as he realised that G had believed what the guy had told him, that no one was coming for him. He checked Callen's other wounds. He had a few broken ribs, a concussion, lacerations on his chest and legs, a knife wound on his leg, and less Sam was mistaken, the guy had even hooked him up to a car battery. Sam looked behind him and was glad that he had killed him.

"Kensi, tell the ambulance to hurry up. He's in pretty bad shape." said Sam

"There on their way." said Kensi kneeling next to Sam. "How is he?" she asked.

"He electrocuted him." said Sam angrily as he held G tighter.

Kensi gasped softly and moved away with tears in her eyes, as she went to tell the ambulance crew where they were.

Sam looked down at G and made a promise to himself that he would always be there to have his back.

Callen inhaled deeply as he stood outside the door, that separated him from the bullpen. He had received a message from Sam to meet him at the office at nine. He pushed open the door and hobbled in on his crutches.

"Merry Christmas." shouted several voices at once, causing Callen to stop in his tracks. He looked up as Sam walked towards him holding a glass of eggnog.

He guided Callen into a chair and past him a present.

"Merry Christmas G." Sam said with a big grin.

Callen looked around the bullpen, which his friends had decorated with Christmas decorations. They were all there, even Hetty, wearing Christmas hats and singing out of tune, handing him presents and giving him hugs, and pats on the back, and Callen knew that even if trouble did follow him around, his family would always be there to get him out of it.

A.N- The next chapter will be on someone drugging him without him knowing. Thanks for reading. Please leave any comments you wish to leave.


	4. Drugged

Sam Hanna knocked on the door to his best friends house. He still couldn't believe that G had agreed to buy a house. The only things he had ever owned were his bedroll and a backpack full of clothes. He supposed that there must have been a lot of happy memories here of Alina Rostoff and her family. Sam frowned when he realised that Callen still hadn't opened the door. Sam knocked again. This was the first time that he had seen Callen in a week. Hetty had ordered them all to get a break, so Sam went to visit his mother. He glanced at the house properly and saw that all the windows were closed and the curtains were shut.

"G you in there?" asked Sam through the door.

Sam slowly got out his gun. He reached out and grasped the door handle and to his surprise he found it open. He pushed it open and stepped quietly inside. It was dark and quiet in the house. He made his way upstairs. Just as he got to the top he heard a voice.

"Come one step closer and I'll blow your head off." said the voice.

"G is that you?" asked Sam in confusion, moving slowly to the door.

"Leave me alone, I can't take your incessant babbling anymore." shouted the voice which was definitely Callens.

Sam ducked instinctively when two shots rang out from a hand gun.

"That was a warning." said Callen.

Getting out his phone, Sam quickly dialled OPS headquarters.

"Hiya Sam, how was your vacation? Thought you and Callen would be here by now." said the cheerful voice of Eric.

"Eric no time to explain. Get everyone to the OPS room now." said Sam in a whisper.

After a few minutes he heard people entering the room.

"Mr Hanna, what is the problem?" asked Hetty.

"Callen has gone crazy." said Sam opting for the direct approach. " He's hiding in his room with a shotgun, and he keeps taking pot shots at me. He's babbling about voices. I need backup on this straight away." said Sam.

"Kensi and Deeks are on their way Mr Hanna, keep him occupied until they get there." said Hetty. "And Mr Hanna."

"Yeah." replied Sam.

"Bring him back safe." said Hetty.

"I will Hetty." said Sam softly as he disconnected the call.

Sam turned his attention back to his best friend. "Please G, let me come in. I promise I can stop the voices if you'll let me." said Sam figuring that the only way to get in the room was to gain Callen's trust.

"Fine, but don't try anything. And the woman stays outside." replied Callen after a few moments silence.

"Of course." said Sam in confusion. He walked towards the door and pushed it open slowly. "I'm coming in G, and I'm all alone." said Sam loudly so not to startle him.

Sam felt himself go cold when he looked at G hiding behind his bed. He had a split lip and a black eye and he looked exhausted, and from what Sam could see of his arms they looked like they had been cut.

"G why don't you toss out the guns slowly, and I'll take you to get the voices to stop." said Sam glancing around the room. His eyes came to rest on a series of bullet holes in the wall near the door. "Looks like you've been busy." said Sam.

"He kept coming to torment me, I had to make him back off." said Callen standing up slowly.

Sam gasped loudly when he saw the state of Callen. His clothes hung loosely on his body and they were covered in blood. His arms had cuts on them and, unless he was mistaken, there was also a few burn marks.

"G what happened man?" said Sam in astonishment.

"Its time for you to die." said Callen as he raised the gun and pointing it directly at Sam, he pulled the trigger.

Sam grunted as something solid slammed into him from behind knocking him forward onto the floor. He heard something fire from behind him and he looked up just in time to see Callen fall to the floor. He looked up as a hand reached down to pull him up.

"That was some hit." said Sam as he reached up to grasp Deek's hand.

"It was worse for me." said Deeks, "Felt like I ran into a wall. Wasn't entirely convinced if you'd go down or not or if I'd bounce harmlessly off you." he quipped.

Sam walked over to G who was led on the floor, a dart from the sedative gun embedded in his shoulder.

"Nice shot." said Sam when Kensi knelt down next to him.

"Your welcome." replied Kensi.

"Lets get him back before the sedative wears off." said Sam as he picked up Callen.

When they were back at the OPS centre, Sam turned to his team. "Had anyone seen him over the week?"

"I know Ms Blye went over a couple of times, but he was always out or not answering the door." said Hetty.

"So whatever happened, happened when he was alone." muttered Sam angrily to himself.

"Mr Hanna, its not your fault." said Hetty quietly.

"Yes it is Hetty. I wasn't there to have his back when he needed me." said Sam bitterly.

Sam stood up quickly as the door to the observation room opened and Nate walked out.

"Well if I didn't know better I would say that he's on drugs." said Nate rubbing a hand over his face. "He's angry, impulsive and confrontational. Not to mention confused. The wounds on his arms appear to be self inflicted and I don't think that he's slept for at least a week."

"The test results will hopefully tell us more." said Hetty.

"Kensi and Deeks are at Callen's house now, hopefully they might find something useful." said Sam.

"Hey guys." said Eric's voice from the screen. "Callens test results came back. His blood work shows dangerous amounts of LD50. it's a drug that causes hallucinations and paranoia, and if taken enough will eventually lead to death."

"Thanks Eric." said Sam as he turned to look at Nate and Hetty. "He's being drugged." said Sam.

"But how, there was no needle marks on his skin." asked Nate in confusion.

"The water." said a voice behind them. They all turned to see Kensi and Deeks enter the room.

" We found this attached to his taps in the kitchen. Every time he took a drink, he got drugged again." said Kensi holding out a device with a cylinder on it.

Sam headed towards the door to the interrogation room. He opened it and looked around in astonishment. "He's gone." he said in surprise.

"Where could he go?" asked Deeks.

"He doesn't know what's going on, so he will go someplace where he feels safe." said Nate.

"Kensi, Deeks. You check his house." said Sam heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Kensi.

"I have an idea." replied Sam.

Callen let himself into the house with a sigh. He had always felt safe here. He closed the door behind him and walked towards the kitchen. He didn't know why, but he was very thirsty. He opened the fridge and grabbed a soda.

"You know you couldn't just die quickly could you. You couldn't even kill yourself." said a man's voice behind him.

Callen spun around and saw the man who had come every day for the past week just to torment him.

"Sure the team would have been sad that you had killed yourself but I could have taken your place and have everyone looking to me for the answers. I would have had friends and colleagues. But no, all during our sessions you held onto your belief that Sam would figure this out and that he would save you. Well guess what? No-one is coming to save you." said the man as he raised his gun.

"Guess again jerk." said an angry voice behind him. A shot rang out and the guy fell to the floor clutching his arm. Sam walked towards him and kicked the gun out of reach before he handcuffed him.

"No-one messes with my friend." said Sam angrily.

Sam approached Callen slowly so that he didn't scare him. G sat on the floor shaking slightly and blinking up at him.

"Sam what are you doing here?" asked Callen in confusion.

"This is my house G, I figured that you would feel safe in my home." said Sam as he sat down next to Callen.

"He wanted me dead so he could join the team." said Callen in disbelief. " He hoped I would kill myself."

"But you didn't." said Sam.

"I nearly did, but I heard you voice calling to me and I stopped." said Callen. He fell silent for a few moments before he said, " His name is Anderson. Frank Anderson. He would come over and pretend that he wasn't real, he would cut my arms and sometimes burn me with his cigarette and tell me to just kill myself already, but I always knew you would come." said Callen with a sigh, learning his head on the cupboard.

"Trouble does seem to follow me around." said Callen with a chuckle.


	5. Bomb

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with NCIS LA. I am making no money from this.

Callen didn't know how he got himself into these situations. Its not like he went around looking for trouble, it always seemed to find him. Although on the other hand, Sam would argue that Callen must have an invisible target painted on his back that only bad guys could see, and who all took great pleasure in trying to hit the bulls eye.

It had all started two days before when Eric had whistled for them to go to the OPS room. When they got there they saw Director Vance looking down at them from the view screen.

"Callen, Sam." said Director Vance in way of a greeting. "I need your help. We have been tracking a gang of thieves for some time. They go into a bank and demand money or they will blow up the building. They get their money and when they are far enough away, they blow up the bank away." said Vance. " I've sent all the footage to Eric. Try to deal with this quickly." He said before the picture cut out.

"What we got Eric?" Said Callen.

They looked to the screen as four armed men entered the bank and shot their guns into the air. Two then demanded money while the other two set up the bomb.

"They are not talking so that they can't be recognised by their voices." said Sam.

They watched as one of the thieves pointed at a woman with her two young children and then at the door. The thief pointed his gun at the woman and said "Go". They watched as the thieves and the woman and children ran out the door. Moments later the screen went blank as the bank blew up.

"They let one go." Said Callen in surprise.

"I think its most likely that we are looking at least one woman in the group or someone with very young children." Said Nate.

" Eric how many people died in the blast?" Asked Sam.

"All six employees and four customers." Said Eric in a grim voice. "Security guard survived when the blast blew him out through the door." Finished Eric.

"Alright find out who he is. Kensi, Deeks pay him a visit. Eric we need the name and address of the woman he let go." Said Callen as he and Sam headed to the door.

Sam and Callen pulled up outside a small bungalow.

"Woman's name is Elizabeth Smith, divorced two kids." Said Sam reading the information that Eric had sent them, as they walked to the door. Sam knocked and a few moments later the door was opened.

"Ms Smith? I'm Special Agent Hanna and this is Special Agent Callen. May we come in for a moment?" Asked Sam politely. The woman nodded her head and opened the door for them.

"Ms Smith, do you know why you were let go?" Asked Callen when they were sat down.

"Yes I do." Replied Elizabeth.

"Why?" Asked Sam.

"The one who let us go was my ex husband." Elizabeth replied gravely.

"What?" Asked Callen in confusion.

"I wasn't sure until I heard him speak, but when he said go, I knew it was him." Elizabeth said.

"Where is he now?" Asked Sam.

"In his apartment. 22 Maple Crest." Said Elizabeth.

"Thank you ma'am." Said Sam as they raced to the door.

Callen sat across from Harry Smith, who was glancing down at his hands. He was nervous and kept looking around, as if trying to find a way out.

"When we picked you up Mr Smith, you were preparing to leave the Country. Why?" Asked Callen.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before you found me." Replied Harry.

"You admit to planting the bombs?" Asked Sam.

"Yes." Said Harry.

" Why are you telling us this?" Asked Callen.

" I'm dying and the guys who hired me, said that all my earnings would go to my wife and kids." Said Harry. " Imagine my shock when I saw them at the bank. Luckily I was able to get them out." He paused for a moment. " Elizabeth recognised me, didn't she?"

"Yes." Said Sam.

"Please Harry, tell us where they are going next." Pleaded Callen.

"LA National bank. 4pm today." Said Harry.

"Thank you." Said Sam.

"Eric tell Kensi and Deeks to meet us at the National Bank." Said Callen.

Sam and Callen pulled up outside the bank.

"Looks quiet." Remarked Sam.

"I'll go in. You wait for back up." Said Callen as he got out of the car.

"G" shouted Sam. He waited for him to turn around before he said, " Be careful." With a nod, Callen turned and walked away. He slowly opened the door to the bank. He stepped inside and glanced around. Everything was quiet. He walked over to the teller's window.

"Excuse me ma'am." He said politely. When she looked up he discreetly held up his badge. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"I need you to go into the back and pull the fire alarm. We need to get everyone out." Said Callen. He quickly did a head count, three customers, four staff, one guard and himself. He was just about to tell Sam that everyone was coming out when a voice shouted, " Everyone down on the floor."

"Um Sam, I think we might have a problem."

Callen looked over to the teller and he whispered, "Get to the back door." He watched in relief as the four workers crawled their way to safety. " Now to just get the other four out." He thought.

"Excuse me fella's." Said Callen standing up. "In about five minutes this place will be swarming with cops. Let these people go."

" Why would we do that?" Asked the leader stepping forward.

"Cause you'll have an NCIS agent as your hostage." Said Callen.

Sam watched anxiously as people cam running out of the front door of the bank. He grabbed the nearest one and asked, " Where is the NCIS officer?"

"He offered himself as a hostage so that they would let us go." Said the woman. Sam let her go with a mumbled thanks.

Callen watched silently as the men filled their bags with the stolen money.

"You'll never get out of here." Said Callen matter of factly.

"Well we have you as a hostage." Said the leader smugly.

"The Government doesn't negotiate with terrorists." Said Callen.

"We are not terrorists." Said one of the men in surprise. " We've all been screwed over by the Government, so we are getting even by taking their money."

" You've killed ten people by trying to get even." Said Callen angrily.

"Its about to be eleven." Said the man smirking.

Sam had spent the last ten minutes arguing with Kensi and Deeks to try to get into the bank, so that he could help Callen. He turned towards the bank, fully intending to go in, regardless of what they said, when to his horror it blew up.

"G!" Shouted Sam running to the building, followed closely by Kensi and Deeks. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the three men trying to escape, but they were brought down roughly by the police. Sam entered the building. It was thick with smoke.

"G." Shouted Sam again, as he was searching through the rubble.

"Over here." Shouted Deeks.

Sam raced over and knelt down, he carefully picked the debris off of G.

"He's unconscious but alive. It doesn't look like he's got any broken bones. Just a concussion." Said Deeks pointing to a large gash on the back of G's head.

"Lets get him out of here." Said Sam as he bent down and picked his partner of the floor. " Call Hetty, let her know what's going on, and that we caught the bad guys." He said to Kensi.

Callen woke to a steady beeping sound. Even before he opened his eyes he knew where he was.

"Come on sleeping beauty, open them baby blues." Said a cheerful voice next to him.

He slowly opened his eyes and glanced towards Sam

"What happened?" He croaked.

"You got blown up." Said Sam with a scowl. " Not that I'm complaining, but how did you survive the blast?" Asked Sam.

"I pulled over one of those heavy tables and hid behind that. Although the blast did knock me backwards into the wall." Said Callen rubbing his head.

"I'm glad your ok." Said Sam quietly.

"Yeah me too, it definitely was a close one." Said Callen.

"You know." Said Sam with a smile, "Trouble really does seem to follow you around."

A.N.- Thanks for everyone who's read and reviewed my story. Let me know what you think.


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